Skip to content
The Kids Research Institute Australia logo
Donate

Search

Research

A psychometric evaluation of the Connor–Davidson Resilience Scale for Australian Aboriginal youth

There is a paucity of quantitative measures of resilience specifically validated for young Aboriginal people in Australia. We undertook the first investigation of validity and reliability of the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale in a sample of Australian Aboriginal people, with a focus on youth. We conducted a cross-sectional study of resilience among a sample of 122 Aboriginal youth (15–25 years old) in New South Wales and Western Australia, featuring self-completes of the 10-item CD-RISC in online (N = 22) and face-to-face (N = 100) settings.

Research

Redressing ‘unwinnable battles’: Towards institutional justice capital in Australian child protection

Australia’s history of negative child protection outcomes for children in state care highlights the sustained, systemic nature of serious harm. Situated in emerging conversations on structural challenges and state violence for parents involved in child protection systems, we trace the resources and barriers to responsive and ‘just’ child protection practice, highlighting how institutions can serve to compound disadvantage and injustice. We argue that addressing challenges such as access to advocacy at the level of the individual is to miss the underlying politics of oppression that serves to keep families marginalised.

Research

"This is my boy's health! Talk straight to me!" perspectives on accessible and culturally safe care among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander patients of clinical genetics services

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people do not enjoy equal access to specialist health services that adequately meet their needs. Clinical genetics services are at the vanguard of realising the health benefits of genomic medicine. As the field continues to expand in clinical utility and implementation, it is critical that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are able to participate and benefit equally to avoid further widening of the existing health gap. This is the first study to explore barriers to accessing clinical genetics services among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, which has been acknowledged as a key strategic priority in Australian genomic health policy.

Research

Are outcomes for childhood leukaemia in Australia influenced by geographical remoteness and Indigenous race?

Presenting features, biology and outcome for childhood leukaemia are known to vary by ethnic origin, geographic location and socioeconomic group. This study aimed to compare presentation patterns, follow-up and clinical outcomes in Indigenous and non-Indigenous children with acute leukaemia in Australia, and to assess the impact of remoteness and area-based socioeconomic disadvantage on outcome.

Research

Occurrence and timely management of problems requiring prompt intervention among Indigenous compared with non-Indigenous Australian palliative care patients: A multijurisdictional cohort study

Anticipation and prompt relief of symptoms among patients with a life-limiting illness is a core element of palliative care. Indigenous Australians commonly encounter cultural barriers in healthcare that may impair outcomes. The Palliative Care Outcomes Collaboration collects patient care data for the purposes of continuous quality improvement and benchmarking, with each recorded care episode divided into phases that reflect a patient's condition.

Research

Vitamin D content of wild-caught traditional foods collected on Nyoongar Country in Western Australia

Low vitamin D status and intake are prevalent among the Australian population, including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. We hypothesised that some traditional foods could contain vitamin D, and measured vitamin D in foods from Nyoongar Country, Western Australia. Samples of kangaroo, emu, squid/calamari and lobster/crayfish were collected and prepared by Aboriginal people using traditional and contemporary methods.

Research

Indigenous infants in remote Australia retain an ancestral gut microbiome despite encroaching Westernization

Studies of traditional Indigenous compared to 'Western' gut microbiomes are underrepresented, and lacking in young children, limiting knowledge of early-life microbiomes in different cultural contexts. Here we analyze the gut metagenomes of 50 Indigenous Australian infants (median age

Research

Cardiometabolic Biomarkers and Prediction of Kidney Disease Progression: The eGFR Cohort Study

Traditional markers modestly predict chronic kidney disease progression in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. Therefore, we assessed associations of cardiometabolic and inflammatory clinical biomarkers with kidney disease progression among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people with and without diabetes.

Research

Prevalence of type 2 diabetes among global Indigenous adult populations: a systematic review

Despite evidence documenting high prevalence of type 2 diabetes among several Indigenous populations, a comprehensive systematic review of type 2 diabetes among global Indigenous Peoples has not been recently conducted. Our aim was to report region-, time-, age- and sex-specific type 2 diabetes prevalence among Indigenous adult populations globally.

Research

Trends in incident acute rheumatic fever or rheumatic heart disease in Indigenous youth in Western Australia: a retrospective cohort study

To determine age-specific and age-standardised incidence trends of acute rheumatic fever (ARF) or rheumatic heart disease (RHD) among Indigenous Western Australians aged less than 35 years of age.